Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Praise for WALKING INTO HER HEART
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
Other Books You Might Like
Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Walking Into
Her Heart
by
Susan JP Owens
A First Realm Novel
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Walking Into Her Heart
COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Susan JP Owens
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by Diana Carlile
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com
Publishing History
First Faery Rose Edition, 2014
Print ISBN 978-1-62830-068-0
Digital ISBN 978-1-62830-069-7
A First Realm Novel
Published in the United States of America
Praise for WALKING INTO HER HEART
“From the first paragraph, I was hooked. The story has extraordinary turns and kept me reading far into the night. The scenes are beautifully orchestrated and stunning. The author doesn’t hold back and each emotional turn left me hoping that she has more books waiting for me.”
~J. Juergens, author
Dedication
To my fellow author,
Nese Lane,
who “walked” every footfall with me.
~
And to my husband and “Soul Mate,”
Jimmy,
for his love and unwavering support.
Acknowledgments
This particular novel took a tribe that I’d like to acknowledge for their technical help, valuable resources and information: Captain H.D. “Dusty” Spain; John St. Germain, Operations Manager, Jackson Hole Aviation; LtCol. Wren Meyers, USMCR (Ret); Sergeant Kim Wolff, TPD; Megan Gersbach, PA; Nancy Livingston; Judy Juergens; Margaret Wilson; Pat Holloway; Keith Moninger; Martha Tutor; Gina Veillon; Jodi Fields; Margaret Bryant; Cindy Schleede; Jake D., and the members of the Heart of Texas, RWA chapter. A special thank you and kudos to my editor, Ally, and cover artist, Diana.
Chapter One
Columbia, South America—Ten Years Earlier
Kyle Pressley scrubbed a hand over his face as he led his team through the thick jungle north of the Ecuadorian border. His beard and mustache itched. Sweat trickled down his back, the salt stinging the mosquito and God only knew what other bites. He gulped the sultry air. Damn, the humidity made it difficult to breathe and clung to everything including his weapon. He swiped his palm down one thigh then the other. The acrid smell of the lab one klick south hovered with no breeze to carry away the fucking obnoxious odor.
The two-by-ten-foot boards settled in the mud marked the path to one of the biggest known cocaine work-camps. Once the team found the site’s position, they were to reconnoiter, then provide GPS coordinates, but not engage. His superiors wanted any shipments tracked to the drug cartel’s new mode of transportation, a submarine. Their intel had been based on a paid informant, and he hoped like hell this wasn’t some wild goose chase.
He set a parallel course to the planks, hacking his way through the dense undergrowth. His instincts howled. Adrenaline shot through his system. The hair on his neck rose. His gut wrenched. He stilled. Catching movement to his left, he clenched his fist and held his arm up to call a halt to his team, then melded by a tree.
The Assistant Secretary had asked his SEAL team to try out the new video gear, including a screen detailing each member’s position and point of view in real time. The usual load-outs used for this type of assignment went back to basics, a machete and a mere compass because of the rain forest’s impenetrable canopy.
His team had practiced for several months before testing the advanced equipment in a live situation. The special rig was integrated into their helmets and pierced the jungle’s substantial covering. All he had to do was think which team member’s POV he wanted, and the images would appear on one of the screens. Processing what he was seeing on both displays and multi-tasking his thoughts, the high stimulus caused his brain to seize, which changed the screen to snow. The innovators had called it a white-out. His team called it something else. “Did you see it?”
“Affirmative,” Dan’s voice whispered through his ear piece. “I have a bad feeling.”
He did too.
Kyle had joined the Navy and risen through the ranks at breakneck speed. Dan, nearly a decade his senior, had become his mentor. Together, their team was a force to be reckoned with. He’d declined a vote of his constituents to join SEAL Team VI. Those men were the elite, intelligent, had guts, courage, and were bound together by one hell of a brotherhood. He’d been honored, but he didn’t see himself doing this for another ten years, and he sure as hell wanted to see his thirtieth birthday.
Bark chipped off the tree above his head. Kyle counted until he heard the gunfire report. The guerrillas had exposed their position. He dropped to the ground, using the thick trunk as protection. Bullets sprayed where his chest and face had been seconds before.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught an asshole trying to hide. He double tapped. His target crumbled.
The barrage of lethal ammo flew by his head while shredding nearby foliage.
“Jesus Christ, engage the fucking bastards,” he yelled while he squeezed the trigger, inundating the area with lead. The hail of gunfire rose close to Dan’s position.
“Two?”
“A little bit busy right now. Ahh!”
“Fuck this shit.” Kyle snatched a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw. “Fire in the hole!”
The eerily quiet minutes that followed slithered into what seemed an eternity. Kyle spoke into his mic. “Red One here.”
“Red Three.”
“Red Four.”
“Red Five.”
He waited. “Two?” Kyle eyed Dan’s video feed. All he saw was snow-fucking-white.
“Red Three to One. I’m looking at Two, and he’s down.”
Kyle’s right lens picked up Two’s position and Three’s image. “I see him. On my way. Secure the perimeter.”
Kyle keyed his mic. “One to Three, request medevac.” His neutral voice belied the urgency screaming through his gut.
Dan’s eyes opened. “I’m done…go.”
“Don’t be a dickhead, Forbes. Remember when you were stabbed last year? The knife had pierced your lung and you pulled through.” Kyle tore the corner of a packet and sprinkled the blood clotting agent. Every man on his team had medical training. Their lives depended on it.
“Leave, prick. Fuck me, that shit burns.” Dan winced.
“Stop being a pussy and grow some balls. You’ve survived worse.” His injury was life threatening. Dan might have a chance based on a few things going his way, like an extraction—stat—a little help from lady luck, and a damn strong conviction to live. But Dan acted like he didn’t care if he lived or died.
Dan groaned. “I don’t want to.”
“What? Why?” Fuck, he never expected Dan to give up, not this fast. This wasn’t the man he knew and admired. No matter what team a man was on, they were bad asses to the end, especially when the damage had been caused by the cock sucking enemy. A SEAL lived just to piss them off. And each man faced death, head-on.
“None of your business.”
“Pull your head out of your ass.” Kyle swallowed hard, fearing the worst. He wouldn’t let Dan concede, not on his watch. He had to figure out what was going on.
Kyle closed his eyes to journey into Dan’s mind. He concentrated on his spiritual self, some call it the third eye, but he preferred to think of it as a portal. While clearing negative energy, Kyle released his physical form and embraced his spirit. He had been given the gift and the name Mind-Walker, which was one of the reasons he had excelled working with the new military equipment and had been chosen as the team leader.
Traveling to other realms was different than journeying into people’s minds. In most instances, he had to cloak his presence, but not this time. He wanted Dan to know he was there and pushed his positive consciousness within Dan’s. Dan’s physical pain struck Kyle like a freight train. Kyle’s leg throbbed. He blocked the excruciating agony and opened to his best friend’s thoughts. Dan’s memories flashed before him. Both of Dan’s children, Aaron and Katherine jumping into their father’s arms, happy their dad came home. Kyle was Aaron and Katherine’s godfather, and he loved these kids as if they were his own. Another recollection unfolded before Kyle, Dan’s wife smiled, then betrayal and heartbreak.
“You bastard, you’re mind walking. You told me this was a bunch of bullshit.”
“Would you have believed me?” This was the first time he had walked in Dan’s mind and he opted not to veil his presence. Not too many people understood his ability and the ones that had… No. He didn’t want to go there…Ever again.
Dan chuckled then grimaced. “No. What happens if you’re still here when I die?”
Kyle discerned his best friend’s life slipping away, the lack of oxygenated blood damaging Dan’s heart as his will to survive diminished. “When did Becca ask for a divorce?”
Mail call…two days ago. I can’t live without her, man.”
“You should’ve told me…Don’t give up…For your kids.”
“She wants custody…Taking them on her symphony tours…Hiring a tutor.”
Kyle willed his strength to Dan. “Stay with me…We’ll fight this together…I’ll help you…I’ve means.”
“I know who you are, prick.”
“Then you know I can hire the best damn attorneys money can buy and we’ll win.”
“Will you look after them?”
Dan’s energy and light faded with each breath. Frustration seared every neurological wave. Why couldn’t he change Dan’s outlook, make a difference? “I’ll make sure the twins will want for nothing, but you can give them more than I can, by staying alive, being their dad, watching them grow up, graduate, get married and have your grandchildren.”
“Tired…Cold.”
The love Dan had for his wife and children rendered Kyle silent. His heart ached for his buddy. He pleaded, not only for Dan’s family, but for him too. “Don’t do this.”
Dan heaved a sigh. “Tell Aaron, Kat, and Becca, I love them.”
“I will.” Kyle drew on his own energy, expounding further to his surroundings. “Hang on.” Still not enough, he expanded to cull the positive forces in the sky, space, then the universe. “Stay with me.” Kyle called on his spirit guides and the angels for their help.
Dan gurgled, “Please go.”
“No, I need you to live.” Kyle gathered all the lifesaving influences and launched the potent power into Dan. “Come on.” Kyle filled his lungs and released the life giving oxygen to Dan by telepathy. “Fuck, fight damn it.”
“No more, let me go.”
Kyle stilled then honored Dan’s last request and walked out.
“So damn cold.”
He gathered Dan in his arms keeping him warm in the hundred-plus temperature. “I love you, man.”
Dan nodded. “Me too.” Then he was gone.
Tears blurred Kyle’s vision. “Fuckin’ A.” If he’d known about Becca’s letter, he would’ve kept Dan from this mission. He would take the responsibility to tell the twins their father had died, on his watch.
For the first time and when it counted most, he’d been unable to make a difference mind walking. If he was incapable of accomplishing such a simple task as to help Dan live for his children, then what good was his gift from the First Realm? He managed to have the right stuff for covert operations, slip in the enemy’s head and step out without them knowing he’d been there. Hell, he could plant ideas into the fucker’s subconscious, and they’d believed it was theirs. He’d had saved numerous agents from certain death and gave up the positions of the rogues who’d put them there. How had he failed to keep Dan alive?
A hand on his shoulder jostled him. “We found the camp several meters west, and everyone scattered. I’ve sent the coordinates. They’re on their way…Pressley, give Forbes to me. We need to get the hell out of here.”
“Fuck off.” He hoisted Dan over his shoulder and carried him to the helo rendezvous.
With each step, his desolation grew. His heart ripped in two, then fragmented into tiny pieces. He cursed. The loss of Dan was like a death of a brother.
His brother.
They were trained in stealth, movement, and extraction. This mission was supposed to be a cakewalk, new equipment tests, keeping undercover, not engaging. The worst part, this job was their last. Kyle had planned a vacation with Dan and his twins. He should’ve keyed in when Becca wasn’t able to join them.
He sighed. Dan was going home all right, in a damn body bag. He had screwed up as the team leader, and the hardest fact he had to accept, he failed Aaron and Katherine. Not only them, but also, his spirit guides, the First Realm, and his ability to help his world when needed.
The rotor wash whipped from the black hawk, lowering to the ground. He climbed in. When the medic stretched to take Dan’s lifeless form, Kyle growled. Dan’s blood covered him, some of it still tacky, some of it dried. The coppery smell filtered to his nostrils. Life had always been uncertain in their line of work. He sure as hell expected more from himself.
He had a duty to Dan. Aaron and Katherine would have everything…except a dad. All the hurt and anguish boiled inside his gut and the repulsive mixture spilled to every part of him including his soul. He had pledged to use his ability for good without undermining destiny. Did he really think he could change Dan’s outlook, snatch his best friend from death’s clutches, and alter fate? The simple answer was yes. He held himself accountable and vowed never to use his gift again.
Chapter Two
The First Realm
&nbs
p; Present Day
“You have done well, but you need help,” One-Who-Soars-With-Eagles communicated telepathically to Tim.
The aura surrounding the medicine man’s spirit demanded his attention. “I don’t want Shelby to die like I did.”
The bell tinkled as his wife left the book store. From above and within the First Realm, Tim watched with the shaman. The sun bathed Shelby’s skin and the golden highlights of her brown hair shimmered. He longed to touch the silken shafts, her soft skin, to walk hand-in-hand. He’d give anything to make love to her one more time.
One-Who-Soars-With-Eagles’ methodical cadence dissolved his thoughts. “Observing her struggle is difficult.”
Shelby’s tireless effort to find his murderer put her in danger. Why hadn’t he told her? Taken the time to share with her about the fetish, the exposure, and risks involved with the Kachina doll? Now in this so-called afterlife, he was forced to accept the medicine man’s plan. Even if it meant an eternal damnation from the First Realm, he wanted Shelby safe, happy on earth, and a kinder death than his.
“However, she is the key,” One-Who-Soars-With-Eagles continued. “We can guide her much like we directed you.”
Tim’s guttural laugh stung with distaste. “You helped me? Based on where I’m standing, she doesn’t have a chance.” Having to follow the shaman’s divine guidance disgusted him. He preferred intervention, but had no choice.
“There’s more at stake than your woman’s life. Potent powers are within Ten-Blue-Sun. Little-Dove-Feathers must have possession of the doll, for she will know how to harness the energy to win the upcoming battles and heal the scars. Shelby is an important step. Dangerous entities will be countering our efforts not only on Earth but here too. When the baby is born, we will have a chance to right all the wrongs.”
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